History of Mathematics [Paperback]

David M. Burton (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071106359 | ISBN-13: 978-0071106351 | Publication Date: December 1, 2005 | Edition: 6th

This text is designed for the junior/senior mathematics major who intends to teach mathematics in high school or college. It concentrates on the history of those topics typically covered in an undergraduate curriculum or in elementary schools or high schools. At least one year of calculus is a prerequisite for this course. This book contains enough material for a 2 semester course but it is flexible enough to be used in the more common 1 semester course.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Mcgraw Hill Higher Education; 6th edition (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071106359
• ISBN-13: 978-0071106351
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,040,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting reading, February 2, 2003

By 

Jason (Illinios) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The History of Mathematics (Hardcover)

I haven't read much on this subject, but I enjoyed this book. The description above says that it's designed for college juniors and seniors, and many of the technical details really will require that level of mathematical maturity. However, there is enough of what the author calls an emphasis on the "bibliographical element" that much of it would be interesting to read through only skimming the technical parts. The author also tries to explain why progress was made at certain times in history but not at others.

The scope is relatively comprehensive: spanning from archeological finds that suggest early numbers systems to early twentieth century work in countability and set theory.

The text itself reminded me quite a bit of my old high school history books -- readable but a little slow-paced at times. More interesting, though, are the problems at the end of every section
-- problems that require the use of ideas and techniques from the time period being described. The author suggests these exercises as a good way to learn both mathematics and history, but they can be safely skipped.

Just a single complaint: the book seems to have a slight slant toward Western mathematics: early Greeks, Europeans from the middle ages, modern Americans recieve the bulk of the attention while there is a single ten-page section entitled "Mathematics in the Near and Far East". While not a fatal flaw (it is of course true that most of modern mathematics has its roots in the West), I would have liked to see a more balanced account.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Historical Book of Mathematics, July 14, 2008

By 

Patrick Thompson "Patrick" (Nassau, Bahamas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The History of Mathematics: An Introduction (reprint ISBN) (Hardcover)

I really love this book! I highly recommend it. I haven't encountered any other that has come close to this book. The minute I got this book I fell in love with it and I was reading it everyday. The problems at the end of the chapters are so cool. When I did a course in the History of Mathematics we used Boyer and that book is so boring! I really don't like history, but Burton makes it much more interesting. I would recommend this book for a course any day in the history and development of mathematics for those who have had some experience with mathematical proofs. Burton did a wonderful job on this book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The older version of the book can serve your purpose for study., August 31, 2009

By 

Mr. Wing Kin Tong (Monterey Park) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The History of Mathematics (Hardcover)

This older version bascially have more or less the content of the newer version. However,you must take care that assignment from your teacher with page number may not match the page number of your book.
As for the content of the book, I think it is written in a very interesting way and it make the study an enjoyable task.